Indians have the second most optimistic attitude on the current world financial crisis after Norway, according to a global survey on consumer confidence levels, spending and attitudes to recession.

One in two Indians, 45 per cent of Vietnamese and around a third of Russians and Chinese expect the global recession to end within a year, says the survey. In India, home to the world's second most confident consumers, employment rates will rise in inverse proportion to the developed world, thanks to the enthusiastic adoption of workforce optimisation —"outsourcing bug", according to the survey.

The UAE has been ranked the fifth most optimistic nation in the Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index, preceded by India and Denmark. "Despite being affected by the current global conditions, consumers in the UAE and other developing markets are aware their medium-to-long-term prospects remain strong," said Piyush Mathur, regional managing director, West Asia, North Africa and Pakistan, The Nielsen Company.

Out of 52 countries surveyed, UAE consumers ranked the third most optimistic for their local job prospects and the state of their personal finances. "Consumer confidence in the UAE remains quite stable as the economy is driven by strong domestic growth particularly in the FMCG and retail sector," observed Mathur.

"This indicates high single-digit real growth even after inflation and population growth are factored in." Consumer confidence in the UAE dropped by only one index point in the past six months.

Many countries experienced double-digit declines in consumer confidence in the past year including the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.